


An Anniversary Misunderstanding

by NotEvenCloseToStraight



Series: Valentines Day Fics! [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Anniversaries, Cheesiness, Established Relationship, Fluff and Humor, Happily Ever After, Light Angst, Love Confessions, M/M, Making Up, Miscommunication, Misunderstandings, They Have the Worst Luck, but not really, stuckony - Freeform, valentines day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-06
Updated: 2019-02-06
Packaged: 2019-10-23 10:36:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17681831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NotEvenCloseToStraight/pseuds/NotEvenCloseToStraight
Summary: A commission on my Tumblr:One year ago, Stuckony got together for the first "official" date of their new relationship and decided to celebrate by having an early Valentines Day celebration. There is terrible food, hotel mix ups, a flood and a too small bed, but its still a great night.Fast forward one year, and its time to celebrate their anniversary. But Bucky and Steve think their anniversary is one night, Tony thinks its the other and misunderstandings abound.Will the boys get their anniversary Happily Ever After?(of course they will, it's Valentines Day!)Misunderstandings abound, but don't worry-- it's Valentines Day so everything ends fluffy and sweet and happily ever after.





	An Anniversary Misunderstanding

_(February 2018)_

“So Tony, listen. We realize this might be a little soon–” Bucky glanced at Steve and the blonde nodded encouragingly. “Yeah, this might be soon but how do you feel about spending Valentines Day with us?”

“What?” Caught completely off guard by the question, Tony paused mid-bite and stared at the couple across from him. “You want to spend Valentines Day together?”

“Yes.” Steve said instantly, emphatically. “I know we’ve only been hanging out for a few months, and we’ve just crossed the line into sleeping together but we were talking about it and–”

“I don’t want to intrude on your Valentines Day.” Tony interrupted. “I mean this–” he motioned between the three of them. “This is great. I’m having a really good time with you guys and the evening at your place was just fine and but I don’t think we’re ready for– for Valentines Day.”

“Just fine?” Bucky pretended to pout. “I put an A+ effort into making sure that evening was  _more_  than fine. You could barely talk by the time we were done with you.”

“Bucky.” Steve elbowed him. “Don’t bring that up over lunch, what’s wrong with you?”

“I’m just saying! You can’t call an evening  _just fine_  when you were fucked right outta your damn–”

“Bucky!” A splash of red across Tony’s cheeks as he remembered exactly how that evening had gone. “Alright, it was more than fine. I had a really great time with you two and everything that came after–” he coughed when Bucky grinned proudly. “– was great too. I’m just saying, regardless of how good night date was, I don’t want to interrupt whatever plans you already have in motion for Valentines Day. You’ve been together for five years, you know?”

“Six.” Bucky corrected and Steve frowned, cutting in with, “Bucky, we’ve been together for five years.”

“We’ve been sleeping together for six.” Bucky maintained. “Dating for five. I count first sex since neither one of us slept with anyone else after the first time until we met Mr. Irresistible over here.”

“Oh my god.” Steve didn’t really have anything to say to that, so he just motioned for Tony to continue.

“You guys have been together  _six_  years.” Tony amended. “And I’ve been around for six months. We haven’t even had a real first date yet and you don’t share Valentines Day with people you aren’t even dating.”

“The hell we don’t!” From Bucky, and Steve eased the bluntness by adding, “Tony, we wouldn’t ask if we didn’t want you to be there. Yeah, you haven’t been around all that long but it’s long enough for us to know–” he hesitated, his voice quieting. “– long enough for us to know we want you around for a real long time, you know?”

“We didn’t know what we were missing until you came along, Tony.” Bucky said, more serious than he’d been all day. “Didn’t realize we weren’t complete until you.”

“Yeah?” Tony tried to hide his pleased smile behind a sip of water, but they both saw it anyway. “Well that’s– I mean, I’d like to be around for a real long time too.”

“Good.” Bucky leaned over the table and kissed Tony soft and slow, drawing it out until Steve had to clear his throat loudly to remind them they were in public.

“Anyway.” Tony wiped his mouth, flushing a darker pink when Bucky licked his lips suggestively. “It’s sweet that you want to spend the day with me, and I guess I can admit I’d love to spend Valentines Day with you guys too but I can’t this year anyway. I have to work straight through the next weekend. We’ve got a big contract coming through and Pepper might be my assistant, but she will also skin me alive if I screw the contract up in any way.”

“Okay.” Bucky shrugged. “So we do an early Valentines Day so you can be there with us. Not a problem. What day works for you?”

“Tomorrow.” Tony said slowly. “Tomorrow works and maybe the Saturday after Valentines day.” Steve groaned and Tony smiled apologetically. “I’m a busy guy, why do think it took us six months to even be able to spend a night together?”

“I dunno, I figured you were playing hard to get.” Bucky shrugged again. “I didn’t think it had anything to do with your work.”

“Not to sound like I would have fallen into bed with you right away, but I  _definitely_  would have fallen into bed with you right away.” Tony cocked a knowing eyebrow and Steve grinned. “Waiting had nothing to do with playing hard to get and everything to do with having to work.”

It was Steve’s turn to kiss him then, more thrilled than he wanted to admit that Tony had wanted them long before spending the night together, and this time Bucky had to drag them apart, muttering an apology to the waitress who was waiting to pour them more water.

“So.” Tony didn’t bother hiding his cheesy smile after that kiss. “Valentines Day tomorrow then?”

“We can make that work.” Steve dug out his wallet to pay for lunch. “You pick a spot for dinner and we’ll take care of a hotel reservation and it can be our first official date of our newly official relationship.”

“Our first official date.” Tony squeezed at their hands excitedly. “Amazing.”

******************

The first official date and early Valentines Day attempt was  _not_  in fact amazing, starting first with the seafood at the restaurant being less than fresh and sending Bucky to the bathroom feeling more sick than he’d ever been in his life.

Next was the hotel, which  _of course_  had lost their reservation and was booked up for a convention so no amount of money or throwing around of the Stark name was going to free up a room.

Bucky managed to stop throwing up long enough to suggest another motel just down the way, assured by the online reviews that it was quaint and charming and a perfect retreat for couples.

The motel was neither quaint nor charming and was only a perfect retreat for those couples who only needed an hour to complete their…  _transaction_ … and Tony laughed until his stomach hurt at the look on Steve’s face when the receptionist asked if they’d need the room for more than an hour at a time.

A third and final attempt at a romantic getaway, stopping at one of those themed motels by the freeway on the way back to the city and it looked entirely promising– cheesy yet updated decor, a nice if not nosy receptionist, rooms with themes of Paris or Venice or Rome and other romantic destinations.

“This could work.” Bucky was finally feeling better, and looked around the lobby curiously. “Where should we take you for our very first date, Tony? The Parisian Gardens? The palace at Rome? I’m sorta feeling Venice.”

“I like Venice.” Somehow still in a good mood after everything, Tony shrugged and handed over his credit card to pay for a room. “I’m pretty sure I could get naked just about anywhere with you two.”

“That’s the spirit.” Steve kissed him longingly, and as soon as they had a key, herded both Tony and Bucky towards the Venice room.

Clothes came off almost immediately, Tony laughing as he backed towards the bed, Bucky undressing faster than either of the others, Steve at least remembering to lock the door behind them and turn on a few lights before jumping on the bed and trying to get his hands on both the brunettes at once.

And just when it looked as if their impromptu pseudo Valentines Day was  _finally_  going to go the way they wanted, the Atlantis room above them sprung a leak and hundreds of gallons of water and several ceiling tiles rained down on them from above, putting an abrupt end to their naked shenanigans.  

“What the fuck is happening?” Tony pushed a soggy ceiling piece off his lap. “Seriously. What the  _fuck_  is happening?”

“Why is this the worst early Valentines Day ever?” Bucky wailed, swiping at his eyes to get water and hair out of the way. “I just wanted to get laid!”

“Okay.” Steve tried to roll off the bed but the waterlogged mattress just sort of squelched beneath him and sank even deeper, effectively trapping him in the blankets. “Okay. This is obviously the universe telling us we shouldn’t ever attempt early holiday’s ever.”

“Well I dunno.” Tony’s eyes were still sparkling, despite the situation. “I’m naked and wet and in bed with two hot guys. Seems like a good deal to me.”

“Fuck me, you’re adorable.” Bucky laughed and dragged Tony in for a kiss. “But I gotta say, this isn’t what I had in mind when I thought about you naked and wet.”  

“I second that.” Steve agreed, but he finally made it off the bed and swooped Tony up into his arms. “But why don’t we just see if they have another room where we can at least shower.”

“Another room.” Tony nodded. “Because what’s the worst that could happen, right?”

Sometime around midnight, they were all lying on the floor of a terribly tacky Cupid themed room, which had been the one and only room left in the entire hotel. The bed was a twin size that had no hope of fitting Tony alone, much less Bucky and Steve, so pillows and blankets were thrown on the floor and they all curled up together to try and get some sleep as the sun was starting to come up through the windows.

“This was the worst Valentines day ever.” Steve chuckled as he rolled over to give first Tony and then Bucky a kiss. “Love you, Tony. Love you Buck. Sweet dreams.”

“ _Mmmph_ , love you guys.” Bucky mumbled.

Tony closed his eyes tight and smiled to himself. “I love you guys too.”

***************

_(February 2019)_

Steve hummed to himself as he finished getting ready, smoothing his collar down over the bright blue tie and taking a moment to admire himself in the mirror.

“What’s up, hottie?” Bucky popped into the reflection, crowding close and waggling his eyebrows as he looked Steve over. “You got plans tonight? I’d love to take you home and do all sorts of things to that All American booty.”

“Oooh sorry.” Steve feigned remorse, reaching for a watch and fastening it around his wrist. “I got plans with another insanely beautiful brunette, but something tells me that he’d be alright with you joining in for the fun.”

“Oh yeah? I’d get a gorgeous blonde and an adventurous flexible brunette too?” Bucky plucked a piece of lint from Steve’s shirt and tossed it away. “How on earth would I say no to that?”

“You’re assuming he’s flexible?” Steve pushed past Bucky to get his suit jacket. “That seems like a leap.”

“A leap, huh?” Bucky’s pale eyes were lit with blatant interest as Steve finished getting dressed. “Tell me, was it you or I that had Tony’s ankles up around his ears last night?”

“If I remember correctly, it was  _both_  of us.”

“Hell yeah, it was.” Bucky grinned and grabbed at Steve’s hand, pulling him close to smack a loud kiss on his mouth. “ Happy one year anniversary to us and our surprisingly flexible boyfriend.”

“Happy Anniversary to us.” Steve repeated, the words slipping into a moan as he kissed Bucky back. “ _Mmmm_ , pump the brakes babe, we need to save all the lovin’ for tonight. Plus, if you tear my suit m’gonna be mad.”

“Ugh.” Bucky grumbled a little, but let Steve go. “I’ve never torn your suit and you know it.”

“You’ve torn all my suits.” Steve said flatly. “Speaking of which, why aren’t you at least wearing a tie?”

“I don’t own one.” Bucky glanced down at his t shirt and jeans. “And I look fine. It’s just dinner, right?”

“You own six ties and two different suit, and it’s  _not_  just dinner, it’s a very fancy dinner at a very fancy restaurant to celebrate a whole year of having Tony with us and the least you could do is wear a tie.”

“I look just as good in a t shirt as you do in a tie.” Bucky declared. “And Tony won’t care what we’re wearing anyway. You know he’s not as fancy as everything thinks he is.”

“It’s the idea.” Steve said impatiently, rifling through their closet to find Bucky’s suit. “We dress up fancy, we eat fancy things, drink overpriced wine–”

“–and then get back to the house and tear it up with fancy sex?” Bucky finished, scowling as he kicked out of his jeans and grabbed the dress pants. “Who says anniversaries gotta be fancy anyway. I never did a fancy thing for any of our anniversaries, why we gotta start now?”

“We never did anything fancy for our anniversaries because for a long time we were just broke college kids living off of Mac and Cheese and sharing an apartment with Clint and Sam.” Steve tossed a tie onto the bed, clearing his throat pointedly when Bucky groaned at it. “But we aren’t broke college kids anymore, and even though we’ve been together six years now–”

“Seven.” Bucky corrected.

“–we’ve been dating six years, Buck.”

“But we’ve been humping it out for  _seven_.”

“Okay yes.” a long suffering sigh from the blonde. “If we count the year we spent humping it out, we’ve been together for seven years. Tony though, has only been around for a year. This is our first year anniversary with him. He deserves suits and fancy dinners and us being on our best behavior.”

“Yeah, alright.” Bucky swept his hair up into a less-messy-than-usual bun. “You’re right. Tony deserves a good first anniversary. Suits and ties and all that sort of thing.”

“Right.” Steve waited for Bucky to finish buttoning into his dress shirt before leaning over and kissing him again. “Thank you.”

“I’ll wear just about anything if it means getting you and Tony in bed.” Bucky countered, kissing him back. “Give me a few minutes and I’ll be ready.”

“A few minutes.” Steve confirmed, and pulled out his phone to text Tony.

He couldn’t wait to get their anniversary celebration started.

***************

“My oh my, boys!” Pepper looked up in surprise when Bucky and Steve walked into the office. “Look how nice you look!”

The pretty redhead stood up from behind her desk and went first to Steve to buss a kiss on his cheek, and then to Bucky, smoothing down the lapels on his suit and turning her head when he went in for a kiss. “Bucky Barnes, don’t you try and kiss me on the lips, not when you kiss my boss with that same mouth!”

“Ms. Potts, I would never try to kiss you the way I kiss your boss.” Bucky said gravely. “I just thought your lipstick color would also look good on me, that’s all.”

“Incorrigible.” She pushed at him lightly. “Tony didn’t tell me you two were coming by, are you taking him out for dinner?”

“Uh–” Steve stopped halfway to Tony’s office doors, turning back to send Pepper a concerned glance. “Yes? Definitely taking him out to dinner tonight. It’s our one year anniversary.”

“Oh.” Pepper tapped her fingers on her date book. “I thought it was tomorrow, but that’s alright.” She smiled brightly. “Go get him, then. You’ll knock him right over looking as good as you two do. Go on.”

“Is it weird that Pepper doesn’t know it’s our anniversary?” Bucky whispered. “Because she pretty much knows everything.”

“Nah, I’m sure it’s fine.” Steve tamped down a wiggle of unease. “I’m sure Tony doesn’t tell her  _everything_.”

Bucky snorted in disbelief, but followed Steve into Tony’s office anyway.

“Hey!” Tony looked up from his stack of paperwork, eyes widening then  _heating_  when he saw them in their suits. “Oh man, did Christmas come early? I must have been a very good boy this year.”

“Hey baby.” Steve bent to kiss him, then moved aside so Bucky could kiss him as well. “Are you ready for dinner?”

“Dinner.” Tony said blankly, pushing aside papers to search for his phone. “Did you text me? You should have just called the office, you know I never keep track of my phone.”

“We figured you’d be taking off early anyway, baby doll.” Bucky said in confusion. “We told you about dinner last night, you said we could go.”

“I briefly remember something about dinner.” Tony allowed, scrolling through his text messages and  _tsking_  when he saw the missed one from Steve. “But then Steve took my pants off and you tied your hair back so it wouldn’t get in the way of–” he coughed. “– _things_ – and that’s about all I remember.”

“Well we definitely set up a date for dinner.” Steve was starting to look a little upset. “We actually set it up weeks ago, and then reconfirmed last night. Did you really forget?”

“I’m sorry, babe.” Tony frowned up at him. “And I’m really sorry that I’m missing out on dinner with you guys looking this good, but I have at least another four hours of paper work to do before I can clock out.”

“Another four hours?” Bucky elbowed Steve. “I told you he wouldn’t care about all this fancy stuff. You’re probably good for some take out and desk sex, huh Tony?”

“Usually I’m definitely good for some desk sex.” Tony was watching Steve carefully, watching the emotions flit across the blondes face. “But I’m even too busy for that tonight. Why did you guys get all dressed up for dinner anyway, did I forget something?”

“Tony.” Bucky spoke up when Steve only clenched his jaw and looked away. “Sugar, it’s our anniversary.”

“No it’s not.” Tony said quickly, almost too quickly. “No, it’s definitely not. I would have remembered that, I have it written down in about a thousand different places and Pepper has it written down in a thousand other places. I did  _not_  forget our anniversary.”

“Tony–”

“I didn’t!” Tony insisted louder. “I have a hotel booked for tomorrow night and everything! Hotel and dinner and–”

“Well I don’t know why.” Steve said flatly,  _hurt_  leeching into his voice. “Because our anniversary is tonight. We got reservations at your favorite restaurant, we’re wearing the suits you like us in so much, there’s something slick and edible sitting in the drawer next to our bed and we have several plans that involve you  _not_  working.”

“And you forgot.” Bucky sounded just as hurt as Steve, maybe more so, his gaze shuttering when Tony spun around to see him. “You forgot our one year anniversary? Tony this is a big deal for us, you know? The whole ‘we thought we were complete until we met you’ thing?

“I am well aware that our one year anniversary is a big deal.” Tony said slowly. “And I’m very much looking forward to celebrating it when the time comes, but it’s definitely not tonight. Do you think I’d be sitting here working if it was our anniversary?”

“Well I didn’t until I walked in and saw you.” Steve loosened his tie, ran his fingers through his hair. “Alright, well since your work obviously can’t wait, I’m going to go home.”

“Steve!” Tony said in disbelief. “Just wait!”

“I guess we’ll catch up tomorrow, sweet thing.” Bucky didn’t even blow Tony a kiss goodbye, just turned and followed Steve out the door.

“Bucky?” Too stunned to even move, Tony stared after the pair as they stalked away. “Are you guys serious?”

“Tony?” Pepper poked her head back in to check on him. “Everything okay? I have a hard time believing you sent them away when they look like that.”

“I didn’t send them away.” Tony sank back into his chair. “They came in talking about dinner reservations and how it’s our anniversary, but it’s  _not_  our anniversary! Our anniversary is tomorrow, I definitely have  _not_  forgotten it.”

“I thought it was weird they thought it was tonight too.” Pepper shrugged a delicate shoulder. “But I assumed you three had worked something out for tonight.”

“Obviously not, I have work to do!” Tony said loudly, and then immediately, “Sorry. It’s not your fault.”

“No, it’s not.” Pepper tapped at her lip thoughtfully. “But I can’t figure out why they thought it was tonight.”

“Yeah, me neither.” Tony straightened up and grimaced as his back popped. “Seems like a shame to miss out on those suits too, but I’ve got to get this done and I don’t know how to tell them it’s definitely not our anniversary without sounding like a dick so–”

“Give them the night to cool off.” Pepper suggested. “Call them in the morning and clear the air and then you can all go to the hotel tomorrow night anyway and this will just become weird misunderstanding.”

“Yeah, alright.” Tony rubbed at his eyes. “Coffee, Ms. Potts?”

“Of course, Mr. Stark.”

****************

Bucky didn’t pick up his phone when Tony called the next morning, and Steve was in the shower so he missed his call altogether.

Tony stared down at his phone in frustration and then fired off a few text messages, asking them to please call when they got a minute, telling them happy anniversary and that he loved them very much, that this first year together had been the best year of his life and that it didn’t matter which of them had their dates screwed up, all that mattered was that they could celebrate.

“Who’s blowing up my phone?” Steve asked when he stepped out of the shower, wrapping a towel around his waist and frowning when his phone chimed again. “Bucky?”

“Tony.” Bucky said shortly. “Group text. Saying it don’t matter when our anniversary he is, he still wants to celebrate.”

“You’re still mad at him.” Steve took in the stiff set to Bucky’s shoulders, the way his jaw was clenched. “Buck I was mad too, but I mean– it’s a simple mistake. Tony’s got a million things going on every day, so he switched up our anniversary days. We should call him back and work this out.”

Bucky didn’t say anything and Steve paused. “Buck? Baby, tell me you know it was a simple mistake.”

“I dunno, Stevie.” Bucky said quietly, rotating his left shoulder awkwardly, the heavy prosthesis pulling when he shrugged. “Sure seems like it wasn’t as important to Tony as it was to us.”

“Don’t do that.” Steve dried his hair and tossed the towel away. “You know it’s important to him. Everything about our relationship is important to him. Don’t you remember him telling us he thought he’d always be alone, and he didn’t know how he got so lucky to fall in love with two people?”

“Yeah.” Bucky muttered. “Something about the way he acted is bugging me though.”

“And you know–” Steve sighed. “I probably didn’t have to react so badly. “It bugs me that he forgot, but it’s just a date on the calendar. Doesn’t matter in the long run, right? He has a huge company to run, things slip his mind–”

“He had flowers delivered on my birthday at the exact time I was born.” Bucky interrupted. “Tony is not a forgetful guy. And even if he forgets in the moment, he’s always already had Pepper put something together, so he didn’t really forget at all.”

“Right.” Steve frowned. “So?”

“So why did he and Pepper say that yesterday wasn’t our anniversary?” Bucky finished. “Why were they both completely convinced that we were wrong? That’s what’s buggin’ me. No way Tony would’a planned for four hours of work on our anniversary. But he  _would_  work four hours late the day before so he could celebrate without worryin’ about nothin’ the next day.”

“Wait–” A quick shake of Steve’s head. “Do you think Tony thinks our one year anniversary is a different day than we do? That doesn’t even make sense. A year ago yesterday we decided that even though Tony hadn’t been part of our lives for very long, we wanted him around forever. That we weren’t complete until he came along.  _That_  was the start of our relationship.”

“But we told him we loved him  _today_.” Bucky emphasized. “Or I guess tomorrow. Remember? We tried to do Valentines Day early, the hotel was booked–”

“–the other one was super sketchy.” Steve finished. “So we ended up at that terrible themed hotel–”

“–where the pipes burst and flooded us.” Bucky nodded. “And after we managed to get to another room and were trying to sleep, we told him we loved him.”

“It’s the one year anniversary of us being in love.” Realization cleared Steve’s expression. “We were worried about a fucking  _day_ , when Tony was thinking about the first time he knew we loved him.”

“Damn it.” Bucky dropped his face into his hands. “We fucked up, didn’t we?”

“I think we did.” Steve started pacing. “But I don’t know why he didn’t say anything. Why didn’t he say anything? We kept saying ‘dinner’ and ‘anniversary’, did he think he just heard us wrong? That would explain why he was so confused last night.”

“And why he was so sure we had the wrong day.”

“He booked a hotel.” Steve remembered, scrolling through his texts to see if Tony would have told them where to meet. “Which hotel would it be?”

“The terrible themed one, because that’s where we told him we loved him.” Bucky said instantly. “What was it called? Lover’s Retreat? Lover’s Recluse? Something horrible and cheesy.”

“Cupid’s Bow!” Steve snapped his fingers. “Right?”

“No, that was the theme of the room they put us in after Venice.” Bucky finally smiled a little. “Remember? The sort of creepy baby Cupid’s on the wall? The chandelier made from red plastic Cupid’s arrows?”

“Ugh, how did I forget that?” Steve dragged his hand down his face. “Okay. So he’s at Lover’s Retreat–”

“Lover’s Lane!” Bucky shouted and Steve jumped. “It’s called Lover’s Lane! Off the freeway, remember? By those big gardens.”

“Right, I’ll pack an overnight bag.” Steve got a duffel from the closet and started throwing clothes in, and Bucky ran to the bathroom to start collecting some toiletries. “Don’t forget condoms, babe!”

“Yeah right!” Bucky called back. “It’s my anniversary, I’m not wearing nothing and neither are you and Tony! Anniversaries are supposed to messy!”

“That’s–” Steve grinned, pulling a box of condoms from their dresser. “That’s not true at all.”

“Sure it is.” Bucky reappeared with deodorant and tooth brushes. “Plus, it’s Valentines Day next week. That’s like a no condom allowed holiday. We can start celebrating early.”

“Also not true, but we’ll ask Tony nicely anyway.” Steve zipped the bag shut and snatched the keys to the car. “You ready?”

“Let’s go.” Bucky jammed a hat on his head and jogged down the stairs ahead of Steve. “We got some making up to do, might as well start that now.”

*****************

“Mr. Stark.” The receptionist at the Lover’s Lane hotel flashed a huge smile in his direction as she handed over his key. “Welcome to the Lover’s Lane Romantic Hideaway for Couples. We have your room all ready for you.”

“Not Venice, is it?” Tony asked dryly, but when the woman looked flustered, he just waved her off. “I’m joking. Don’t worry, I’m sure everything is perfect.”

“Will you be needing additional keys?” She raised her eyebrows meaningfully, glancing up towards the Hideaway for Couples sign above her head. “Or will you have a visitor coming later I can hold a key for?”

“Uh, nope.” Tony forced a smile. “Nope, looks like it’s just me but I’ll let you know if that changes.”

“Oh.” her megawatt smiled dimmed just a little bit. “Well, enjoy your evening Mr. Stark.”

“Yep.” Tony tried not to think too hard about the fact that neither Bucky nor Steve had texted him back at all today, nor had they called him. It was their anniversary, and he was checking into a hotel by himself, neither of his boyfriends by his side and that was just fucking  _awful_.

“Happy Anniversary to me.” he muttered, trying his hardest not to stomp up the stairs to the room, grateful that it was a big enough suite to take up the entire back corner of the hotel. He didn’t want to hear anyone else having a lover’s retreat, not when he had to be there alone without–

 _–what_?

Tony frowned when he saw the bright red tie on the door handle, and double checked the number on his key card before opening the door, peeking his head around to make sure he wasn’t walking into anything awkward. “Um, hello? Is anyone in here? Pretty sure this is my room.”

“Well, I dunno.” The door yanked open suddenly, and Bucky caught Tony when he nearly fell in. “I sorta thought it was  _our_  room, too.”

“Buck?” Tony started to pull away, but Bucky held him a little tighter, smiling down at him hopefully. “What are you doing here?”

“We figured it out, honey.” Steve took Tony’s bag out of his hands, and set it aside. “We figured out why you didn’t think yesterday was our anniversary.”

“Yesterday  _wasn’t_ our anniversary.” Tony said bluntly and Bucky nodded, sifting his fingers through Tony’s hair and tugging him close to give him a feather light kiss.

“You’re right. It wasn’t.” Steve slipped an arm around Tony’s waist and Bucky let him go so Steve could kiss him too, brushing their noses together and sighing when Tony kissed him back. “Yesterday was just a day on the calendar, just another time we went on a date together.”

“But a year ago  _tonight_ –” Bucky started tugging Tony towards the bed, falling back onto the pillows and bringing Tony with him. “We tried like hell to have a spontaneous Valentines Day trip since you would be busy for the real one, only to have the world’s worst luck with the restaurant and two other hotels–”

“–and ending up here.” Steve crawled onto the bed next to them, propping himself up on his elbow so he could see both of them. “Except the pipes above us broke and almost drowned us, and we ended up in Cupids Bow room, which only had a twin sized bed, so we ended up on the floor.”

“And none of us slept.” Bucky added. “How the hell were we supposed to sleep on the floor, sharing two pillows and one blanket? So we talked all night instead. Talked and joked and made plans for our next Valentines Day.”

“And when the sun came up,” Steve turned Tony carefully on the bed, smoothing a possessive hand down Tony’s chest to land low at his waist. “When the sun came up, we were all exhausted and trying to get some sleep, and that’s when Bucky and me told you we loved you.”

Steve bent down to kiss him sweetly, his tongue slipping along the seam of Tony’s lips until they opened beneath him with a quiet moan. “Why didn’t you tell us you thought our anniversary was the night we said I love you for the first time? It makes perfect sense once we started thinking about it. Of course you didn’t think our anniversary was the day we all decided to officially date.”

“The day we say I love ya is much more important.” Bucky’s turn to kiss Tony, and he wasted no time pressing Tony into the mattress and kissing him breathless, their tongues curling together, Tony digging his fingers into Bucky’s arms to hold him close. “ _So_  much more important, sweet thing.”

“Okay but–” Tony was panting when Bucky finally pulled away, closing his eyes and chuckling quietly when Steve’s hand slipped beneath his waist band, stroking lightly over his hip bone. “How did you guys know I would be here? And why didn’t you answer any of my text messages?”

“I told you we should have texted him back.” Bucky kicked at Steve’s foot. “Stevie wanted to surprise you, thought it would be better if we were just waiting here and we could talk everything out.”

“But Bucky was the one who realized you were probably trying to recreate our night together.” Steve kicked Bucky back. “So we called this hotel first, pretended we were you checking on the reservation and added our own names to the list.”

“Risky.” Tony raised his eyebrows. “What if I would have been angry with you guys?”

“If you were angry, you wouldn’t have texted us to tell us happy anniversary.” Bucky decided. “And even if you were angry Tony, we weren’t going to let you be alone on our anniversary, no way.”

“Well, I’m not mad.” Tony sat up and pulled Steve back into a kiss. “I was a little confused, sure, but it’s just a day, just a mix up. We would have gotten over it, right?”

“Of course we would have gotten over it.” Steve kissed him hungrily, squeezing at his waist. “Tony, you’re the best thing to ever happen to us. We aren’t going to let you go.”  

“No way.” Bucky agreed. “We survived food poisoning and sketchy hotels and nearly drowning together. You aren’t going anywhere.”

“What a shame.” A cheeky grin, Tony pulling at Steve’s shirt and trying to work at Bucky’s belt at the same time. “What. A. Shame. Happy early Valentines Day to me.”


End file.
